TORONTO – Jesse Ronson gave a spirited effort on short notice, but it was too little, too late against Michel Prazeres.

Prazeres took a split decision against the Ontario-born fan favorite, using seven takedowns and a dominant first round on the ground to get two of the three judges to go his way.

The lightweight bout was part of today’s UFC 165 event at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. It streamed on Facebook ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and a main card on pay-per-view.

Prazeres kicked high early, but Ronson shrugged it off and tried to alter his stance to show some different looks. Prazeres shot in for a takedown 30 seconds in, and while Ronson defended initially, the Brazilian finally got him down and tried to go to work out of side control. He worked his left arm under, hoping to set up an arm-triangle choke. Ronson got to his feet, but Prazeres scooped him up and slammed him back down, where he again looked to work for several choke positions. Prazeres easily jumped to side control, where Ronson eventually gave his back, where Prazeres looked for a rear-naked choke. Ronson had no real answers with Prazeres draped all over him – though he was able to defend and survive the first round.

Ronson bounced on his feet early in the second, but when he threw a left hand that missed, Prazeres easily ducked under and took him back down. The Brazilian kept after Ronson’s neck, but with three minutes left, the Canadian popped back to his feet. He landed a kick to the body, but Prazeres landed a left and used that to get another takedown. With a minute left, Ronson landed a good kick up high, then one to the body, and he looked fresh on his feet heading to the third.

In the third, Ronson faked a spin, then landed a solid uppercut and looked to be the fresher fighter as he came forward, bouncing on his feet. He landed a kick up high, then a leg kick, and one to the body. But Prazeres answered back with a couple rights of his own. Midway through, Prazeres wanted the fight back on the ground, but Ronson defended and with Prazeres on his back, Ronson kicked his legs. With two minutes left, Ronson let the Brazilian get back to his feet. And that may have been a mistake. With a minute left, Prazeres took Ronson down for the seventh time. With 10 seconds left, Ronson turned the tide and landed a big slam and a few punches as the time ran out. It just wasn’t enough.

“In my point of view, I did a good job,” Prazeres said. “Jesse is a very technical fighter. He’s a very talented fighter. He did great considering it was his debut. I think we put on a good show for the fans. I’m happy with my performance, especially considering the audience didn’t want me to win because it’s Jesse’s home (province).”

“First round, I had the UFC jitters and he took me down early, but I didn’t give up,” Ronson said. “You know that choke was pretty tight, but I know he was pretty tired after the first round. Second round, I tried to turn it around by tightening my body. In the last 10 seconds (of the fight), I thought there was a minute left so I went berserk. I thought I had more time, but I didn’t. I misjudged it. That sucks.”

Prazeres (17-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is back in the win column after having his 16-fight unbeaten streak snapped by Paulo Thiago in his UFC debut in May. Ronson (13-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had an eight-fight win streak snapped in his first UFC appearance.

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